In the event of an emergency water landing, aircraft typically have one or more life rafts that can be deployed to hold evacuated passengers. To protect passengers from the sun, rain, weather conditions, and other elements, life rafts include a canopy for shielding the passengers from the aforementioned conditions. Conventional life rafts often include a plurality of ballast bags that are tethered to the life raft to provide stabilizing ballast support to the life raft, thereby reducing the likelihood of capsizing. Conventional ballast bags, however, may add complexity to the life raft and increase material and manufacturing costs of the life raft.